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Woz Says Big Software Doesn't Work

Posted by Zonk on from the memories-nothing-more-than-memories dept.

chrizbot writes "A friend of mine studying journalism at Google's alma mater interviewed Steve Wozniak of Apple Computer fame. He chimes in on open source, DRM, record companies and how software from big companies suck so bad (including Apple's!). The part my friend doesn't include is how he guessed a trick was performed and won a necklace from him!" From the article: "Sometimes the engineers are true artists and really care what they're doing, doing a really great job. Although, I don't know how much I can even say that because the big companies, Microsoft, Apple and AOL, they tend to turn out the crappiest products, you know, software-wise. The ones that have the most bugs, the most items that are supposedly in there but don't work. The most things that are left out because they aren't finished. The most things that are inconsistent with the way they did their last program. I get the worst, worst software almost always from Apple."

12 of 483 comments (clear)

  1. GOOGLE WENT TO COLLEGE?! by MondoMor · · Score: 5, Funny

    No wonder it's so damn smart!

    Has it got a Master's? Or should we call it Doctor Google?

  2. Gone by darrint · · Score: 5, Funny

    I get the worst, worst software almost always from Apple.

    But I'm not bitter.

    1. Re:Gone by daviddennis · · Score: 5, Informative

      But he refuses to give examples, which is strange.

      I can tell you that in my experience, the best software by far comes from Apple, from OSX on down to products like Final Cut Pro and Motion. Compare the user interface of Motion with the mess that is Flash and you'll get the point. Or compare Final Cut with Premiere.

      Apple's not perfect, and I think Woz is responding to that fact. He's frustrated that even with world-class perfectionist Steve at the helm, software isn't perfect.

      And of course this is true. But at least Steve's fighting for perfection - I fundementally agree with the cartoon I linked to - in an industry where most want to settle for "good enough for Government work."

      D

  3. who? by BushCheney08 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh, c'mon. Like this "woz" person has any clue how a computer works. I bet Apple wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole...

    --
    Be a real patriot: Question authority. Think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions.
  4. Troll? by CaymanIslandCarpedie · · Score: 5, Funny

    I get the worst, worst software almost always from Apple.

    This Woz guy is obviously a MS$ fanboy troll! ;-)

    --
    "reality has a well-known liberal bias" - Steven Colbert
  5. Obvious? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Sometimes the engineers are true artists and really care what they're doing, doing a really great job. Although, I don't know how much I can even say that because the big companies, Microsoft, Apple and AOL, they tend to turn out the crappiest products, you know, software-wise. The ones that have the most bugs, the most items that are supposedly in there but don't work. "

    It's a symptom of two things, from the standpoint of poor quality software produced by people who are capable of much better:

    1) Nothing personal at stake for the people actually producing the software. It's a lot different when your livelihood directly and visibly depends on the quality of the product your employer produces. Whether it's because it's my own company, or I get fat stock options, I'll work harder when I'm trying to reach the cheese.

    2) Diluted responsibility for the product. 2,000 people working on a product means that in all likelihood, my individual contreibution will go unnoticed, and therefore I have less incentive to perform well. Also, even if my contribution is perfect, it won't have that much effect on a huge project.

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  6. Woz is from a different era by ACK!! · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You have to understand Woz is from a different era and genre of computing. He has been out of the business since the days when Assembly was king and you had to hack programs and optimize them very, very hard to get them to work at all.

    Most folks I know from that era feel the same way about today's large programs whether they are from Apple or not.

    Come on, give the old guy a break there was a hell of a lot more to the article than that one quote.

    Anyone else RTFA?

    --
    ACK /ak/ interj. 2. [from the comic strip "Bloom County"] An exclamation of surprised disgust, esp. i
  7. That's why I like "Classic" Unix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My view has always been: don't let developers (including me) use the latest & greatest technology. Force the build once a week to be run on an "old" PIII @ 800 Mhz w. 128MB RAM. If it's un-usable for quick testing, then go back and fix it.
    (by the way, I know I'm being generous in those specs, I personally test all my software on a dog-slow Pentium II @ 233Mhz w. 64M RAM running various "older" OS versions (Win2000, Linux 2.2!, etc.)

    Then, when you roll it out to your users and their running the latest 3GHz, 4GB RAM machine, they are happy.

    Linux & GNU seem to be the latest (last five+ years) culprits in the bloatware regime. I remember actually compiling the full kernel on an 8MB machine (yes, it took four hours)...now you can't do in under 32MB
    (although I guess that's more GCC bloat than anything)

    Things are just too big and bloated now.
    Give me an old "Classic" Unix with no X, just command line.
    Let me pipe my various home-built tools together to create a final simple working FAST result.

    TDz.

  8. Giants are clumsy... by Iriel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...but mobs are hard to organize.

    Both are generalizations that don't always fit the models that development teams are cast into.

    Some software behemoths can make some pretty damn good software or at least have a pretty responsive team for fixing bugs that can (and will always) arise. But some open source software I've worked with has completely alienated me because the organization of it was so abyssmal that nothing ever really got done to crawl out of alpha 0.0.0.halfapercent.9 despite all the phenomenal talent pooled between the developers.

    Stereotypes are dangerous so pick your poison, should you decide to follow that route.

    --
    Perfecting Discordia
    www.stevenvansickle.com
  9. Re:Back in the day by waterlogged · · Score: 5, Insightful

    OK so I'll take the bait and feed the troll. Woz has probably forgotten more in the past week than we collectively will learn in the next year about computers and computing. Never underestimate any person that has a root knowledge about how something works. While others may say, "but he hasn't been working with the tools.... or doesn't understand the current state of things...". This doesn't mean the man doesn't understand FAR more about how to get a certain task accomplished. I try not and underestimate, or discount people that don't have the same skill set as me, and you would do well not to either.

    --
    I couldn't fail to disagree with you any less.
  10. Re:Back in the day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dvorak (John C. Dvorak) has never done any work in computers -- he's been a journalist his entire life. Frankly, I've never really understood why people paid attention to him.

    Because he designed that excellent keyboard, and composed music in his free time.

    I refuse to let you make fun of such a multitalented individual.

  11. Re:I thought this guy was supposed to be cool by schon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    call it a hunch, I just dont think The Woz see's many Real Poor People at the country club.

    Which country club would you be referring to?

    Would that be the one where he teaches computing to underprivileged children, and provides them with free laptops?